Oh, the Places We'll Go

One of our favorite days of the trip so far was a Saturday outing to Cieneguilla with Ryan, Anglela and the fam. Cieneguilla is not far outside the city limits of Lima and feels a world away. Less than and hour drive from Ryan and Angela’s home, it is a popular spot for those wishing to escape the hustle and bustle of the city. Where Lima is normally smoggy and overcast, in Cieneguilla you can breathe clean air and see the blue sky. We went to cool spot called La Mesa de Piedra that is part restaurant, part park, part entertainment. We played around outside – swinging, playing lacrosse, soccer, and frisbee, rock climbing, and trying to catch minnows – and built up an appetite before sitting down for lunch.  There is only outdoor seating and the place was huge!  There were dozens of other families doing the exact same thing, and there was a lively band playing along with traditional dancers throughout several of the numbers.  It was quite an experience and very entertaining!

For our lunch, Ryan and Angela ordered us a traditional Peruvian dish that combines several different types of meat (chicken, pork, beef) with a variety of vegetables (corn, beans, potatoes) in a big clay pot where it is then cooked underground.  It comes out about a half-hour later and is enough to feed a pretty big group!  It felt like we ate for hours and when we finally checked our watches, it was indeed late into the afternoon.

When we got back to Lima, we had some down time before the kiddies went to bed.  Ryan and Angela arranged for a babysitter to come over just after the kid’s bedtime and then the adults went out to dinner!  Peru is currently experiencing a food revolution and there is no shortage of amazing restaurants throughout the city.  Ryan and Angela picked a seafood spot that had come highly recommended to them but that they hadn’t yet visited.  We were spoiled rotten by the deliciousness of the meal and had a great time hanging out with Ryan and Angela.

Though Ted and I would have happily over-stayed our welcome, we recognized that we needed to give Ryan and Angela their house back and carry on with our journey.  Our hope is that we live in a cool place someday that the Smedes would like to visit so that we can return the generosity and hospitality!

Through Ted and I mostly have an open itinerary, we do have a few planned trips thanks to our good friends at Adventures Within Reach (AWR). AWR is a Boulder-based tour operator that we are working with while on our journey. It’s a pretty amazing “job” actually – AWR needs detailed information about different treks, hotels, and operators in some of the areas we are visiting, and we are happy to test, research, and report on them as it allows us access to some amazing adventures that would normally be out of our price range.  If you’re thinking about a trip to S. America, Africa, or Nepal, you should check out their website.  We’ve really been impressed, as you’ll see below.

Our first such trip arranged with AWR’s assistance was the Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu with Mountain Lodges of Peru (MLP). The most popular trek to Machu Picchu is the famous “Inca Trail”, but due to its immense popularity, limits have been imposed on daily access (500 people per day – needless to say, the trail is crowded).  In reality, there are many Inca trails in the region, and some of these alternative treks provide equally stunning scenery, and a much more private atmosphere. The Salkantay is one of these treks.

We knew ahead of time that the MLP trip would be fancy, but we really had no idea what we were in for. The 8-day trip was the most fantastic that either Ted or I have ever been on. We emailed our parents that we felt like we were on our second honeymoon! Anyone who is considering a trek to Machu Picchu that wants a “comfortable” experience should seriously consider the MLP trip. Hands-down amazing!

As I mentioned above, there are many different hikes that get you to Machu Picchu and most of these involve rather long days of hiking and then camping each night. The other companies usually make the trip in 3-4 days. The MLP trip is different, not only because they spread out the 24 miles of hiking over 6 days, but you get to spend each night in incredible lodges (with hot tubs!), eating beautifully-presented, wonderfully-delicious meals. In addition, the staff and guides provide over-the-top service and think of every last detail to spoil you rotten (why yes, I would love a cool towel and a glass of fresh fruit juice after my long day of hiking).

I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves but a few of the many highlights included:

-Our first view of the Humantay Glacier. There we were walking along on our first day of the trek and then we rounded the corner to see the most beautiful glacier-covered mountain peak.

-The view from the hot tub at the first lodge (with the Salkantay Glacier and Humantay Glacier in the distance).

-The highest we’ve ever been! The pass on our third day of hiking took us over 15,000 feet! Ted and I have done a few 14ers (14,000 foot peaks) in Colorado, but this was certainly our first 15er.

-Wayra Lodge – the second lodge we stayed in our trek. It has to be situated in one of the most beautiful places in the world.  And, it’s only accessible by foot – no roads!

-The food. Peruvian food has been impressive nation-wide, but food we had on this trip was truly gourmet. We’ve never taken so many pictures of food in our lives. They were absolutely works of art.

-Our great group. We got to meet fun, unique people that are also in the travel industry. We were also lucky to have amazing guides and be accompanied by two cool MLP office staff members. You spend a LOT of time with your group, and we are certain that they were part of the reason we had so much fun.

-Oh, and by the way, did I mention it culminates at Machu Picchu, the most amazing historic site on the planet!  More on this soon!

So if you can’t tell, we absolutely loved the trip and would do it again tomorrow. It was literally the first thing we did upon arriving in Peru and it certainly set the stage for the amazing time we were going to have in this country.

More pictures?  Check out the full MLP album here.

Ceviche on the beach!  Who´d of thought you could get semi-raw seafood out of a tricycle cart while sunbathing.

Delicious!

Venga pescado!  Venga pescado!  Yup, that’s right, this truck is driving around selling fish.  Direct to your door (or just passing you walking down the street).  There is a megaphone on top of the truck, a cooler in the back, and all the trucha (trout, farm raised) that you could possibly want.

This one has a bit larger variety.  He’s got fruit, snack food, soda, and…fish!  These guys drive around rural villages, blaring their inventory over the megaphone.  Considering most people have to travel 1-4 hours by bus to make it to the local market to purchase food, it’s a pretty brilliant business model.  I continue to be impressed by the entrepreneurship of the Ecuadorians.

There is nothing better than the sound of a blender in the morning. A blender sound means that you get to drink fresh fruit juice (jugo) for breakfast. The fun part is you don’t know what kind of juice you’re going to get. It could be pineapple juice, or blackberry juice, or strawberry juice, or guava juice, or raspberry juice,  or passionfruit juice, or even a tree tomato juice (it’s in the tomato family but doesn’t taste like tomato – it’s much sweeter). I haven’t had an orange juice yet!

A fun compliment to the jugo is to add milk. It then become more rich and smoothie-like and is then known as a batido.

Either way, we love them and look forward to see what we get to drink every morning.